Hello everyone!
First of all, let me apologise for leaving this posting so late because it's normally up by now.
I'll level with you and say that I'm struggling somewhat at the moment with an issue I'm really trying to cut down how much I talk about on here because my focus is supposed to be on Jesus and helping you to see that what He's doing is for not just my good, but also the greater good as well!
Onto this week's devotional and the power that is in our baggage...
Our Born Identity
If I say to you the word identity what do you think of?
To me I instantly think of labels that we can carry around that have either been affixed by other people or are fixed by us ourselves. Our own thoughts seek to either congratulate us when we're successful or condemn us when we're not.
There is power, then, in the sorts of labels that you and I affix to our lives.
It could be negative words like "addicted", "alone", "depressed", "failure" etc...
But what I'm highlighting here is the reality that words like those are indeed identifying a greater problem under the surface. For instance for someone to be an addict, there has to be something that they're addicted to. For someone to be alone, there has to be another standard to which they are comparing themselves to that means they are somehow less than complete by being on their own.
You know my thoughts on dating as I highlighted them last time, in my closing statement for #RaisingUpFearless, so I don't need to reiterate them again, do I?
What I'm getting at here is that the words that we choose to label our lives with, or the words we allow other people to label our lives with needn't have a controlling factor as such that controls how we behave.
What Defines Me Isn't What Controls Me
Take me for instance. I've already admitted that never before have I had a girlfriend and I've heard all the names you could possibly throw at me for that.
But if you'll remember a while back, I posted that I am the Stigma Eater. In other words, I was saying that you can label me all you like; those labels will be eaten far more than I'll be beaten by them!
We live our lives giving ourselves over to things that either want to control us or are controlling us, it's just a matter of where our focus is in the process.
I admitted time and again on here that I'm currently working through a crush at the moment and it's taking a long time to resolve itself (ED - it's nearly a calendar year to be precise, TLP!). But what you've got to realise at this point is that it is where my eyes are looking in the midst of this that is defining me as a person.
It is not my time, nor is it my schedule that this is to be resolved under; it is God's!
Am I defeated because I'm under this crush?
Or has God simply allowed it to get so close to me so that He can do the necessary emotional work within me that will get me to a far healthier state of mind in the future?
I don't need to go any further because it should be obvious by now which question I'm leaning more towards.
I mean, sure it does get to me at times. Like I told my friend last night, in fact, it sometimes swells up so much that I get really emotional at the drop of a hat about it all. Not because I'm struggling, but because of how I feel about this person.
Did you hear that?
I said "not because I'm struggling, but because of how I feel about this person".
It's a clear distinction that this is not controlling me, nor is it defeating me, it is just making me easily likely to get upset at the road that I'm on because I know where it's heading and there is nothing I can do about it right at this moment in time.
So I'm between a rock and a, somewhat, pleasant place even if I do cry about it at the moment.
I don't care what you think of me. This is my blog. It's my voice.
I'll keep saying it until it resolves itself: -
God knows what He is doing in allowing it to get so close to me in the first place!
How I feel about this person doesn't change from day to day, it just "is" for now. The point is that my identity belongs firmly in Christ so no crush, no matter how much it presses down on me, no crush has the right to control my life.
Sure, I talk about it on here and it may be wrong to some people. The point is that I'm trying to get out the sort of thoughts and feelings that I'm going through so that I can read them back at a later date and, hopefully, say that I was trusting God and proving I was by passing the test and letting Him get on with His restoration work.
Final Thought
Before I go on any further, I hope that I have helped you to see that no matter the size of the issue that you deal with, it does not have to become fixed to your identity so much that it defines who you are.
Like I told my friend, my crush doesn't define me, God does.
It doesn't get the right to define me; I don't give it the right to!
What does define me and sets my identity is the fact that, every time I feel it swelling upon me, I either take it to God in prayer, to scripture or to my worship music, proving that God is not only first on my mind; He's also second and third too!
Your baggage only has the power that you give it when it comes to your daily life, so be careful what you're allowing to stick to you; you just might regret it in the end!
Watch the skies...
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